Aymee AU
by LucyRutherford
Summary: Mine.
1. Food Fight

**Disclaimer**: All rights and characters, except OC's, belong to FOX.

### FOOD FIGHT ###

"What in the gorram hell is -?!" Malcolm Reynolds' angry voice rose over the sounds of the girl's giggles but was cut short when a small white missile unexpectedly exploded against his chin.

It turned out to be a raw egg, and it dribbled messily down Mal's face to form a sticky pool on his shirtfront. He blinked in stunned silence as Aymee and River froze. Both quickly dropped the other gobbets of food from their hands as if denying the chance that either one of them had thrown the egg. Aymee tried unsuccessfully to brush the congealed mess from her fringed dress, but only managed to smear the glops of food further into the fabric. She gave up and instead risked a surreptitious glance at the captain.

Mal ignored the wet egg yolk on his face and stared in wide-eyed horror at the war zone that had once been his galley. Egg goo mixed in a kaleidoscopic collage with flour, protein paste and something orange-colored on Serenity's kitchen walls, floor, and table. There wasn't a clean spot in the room he realized sickly. Most of it had begun to dry and harden but there were other, more liquid portions that still oozed lazily down the wall in spots to plop loudly onto the food-splattered floor. Mal slowly raised his eyes to stare incredulously at the two girls covered in eggs, flour and gods knew what else. He was utterly speechless.

River reached over to pull a piece of noodle from Aymee's hair, and Aymee batted the girl's hand away giving River a mortified shake of her head. "Aiya, wo men wanle! _(damn, we're in big trouble)_" she whispered tersely.

"What did you two gorram brats do to my galley?" Mal demanded his voice rising in anger as his brain tried to take in the scene and make sense of it.

"We had a food fight," chirped River.

"A food fight…" Mal's voice drifted off in disbelief. "Wuh de tyen, ah _(god in heaven)_ …a food fight?!"

"Well, I mean," Aymee stuttered miserably, "it's not really…well, River pitched an egg at me, see – in fun, ya know? And then... well…I guess I kinda hit her in the face with some flour in turn…and-"

Mal cut the girl off, his eyes drilling holes into her as he finally reached up to wipe the egg from his face. "You know how hard fresh food is to come by out here," he said.

The two girls before him fidgeted in shame. His eyes grew flinty. "Them eggs was to last us the month, and now…" he looked around at the flour spattered walls and then back to the girls. "And now, we don't got eggs, we don't got flour…not to mention the cost of them lost goods, which weren't cheap and you know it."

Aymee winced. She hadn't even considered the expense any more than the actual loss of rations. She knew from her time living on Serenity that the price of eggs around the border and rim planets ran close to five platinum a dozen. And they had destroyed several dozen of them, not to mention the other supplies that were now worthless. She cringed.

"That wasn't just your food, girls" Mal sternly lectured, "and it weren't just your hard sweat that earned the credits to pay for them. Your foolishness hurts everybody on this boat and I ain't standin' for it." Mal fixed the girls with a stony glare. He pointed to the kitchen. "The two of you are gonna clean up every speck of this here mess and make my kitchen shiny, and I mean shiny," he ordered, "and then you're gonna figure out a way to pay me back for the cost of all this waste, and then you, young lady," he indicated Aymee, "are getting a licking."

"You can't be serious!" Aymee sputtered in fear.

"Oh, I'm all kinds of serious," he shot back at her.

"But, but...you can't whup me!"

Mal shrugged and fixed her with a stern look. "Giving you extra chores and confining you to quarters sure ain't done the trick, and apparently my being captain of this here crew don't seem to hold much water with you neither. So, what, little Aymee, do you suggest I do to get it into that thick skull of yours that staying out of trouble ain't optional?"

"How come she," Aymee pointed at her co-conspirator who was busy sniffing and licking the sleeve of her dress, "don't end up catchin' it?"

"Cause River don't always understand the outcome of what she does. But **you **do." Aymee couldn't argue with that. She remained silent and he continued, calmly. "Sides, I'm thinking River wasn't the mastermind behind this bit of lunacy." Mal then fixed his stare on his young charge. "You, on the other hand -_are_\- the most likely culprit."

Aymee's eyes fell guiltily to the floor not wanting to meet her captain's accusatory look.

"Well now," Mal said as he looked from one to the other, "Seems to me you two have work to be done." He made his way through the galley careful not to slip on any of the mess and headed out the door on the way to the bridge. His voice carried back to the two girls as they made their way over to the sink. "I want it shiny!"

Aymee opened her mouth to offer a retort but never got the words out because just then, she was hit in the side of the face with a wet dishcloth. Her eyes widened, mouth stiffening into a thin angry line. She bent down to retrieve the bit of rag from the floor where it had fallen. River smiled expectantly as her friend shot her a dirty look.

"Thank you, River," Aymee sneered sarcastically as she began to mop up some of the damage on the floor. She assessed the job ahead of her and sighed. This was going to be a long afternoon.

###

Aymee finished scrubbing the last bit of scum off the kitchen table while River playfully waltzed up and down the now spotless floor with the broom in her arms. Aymee didn't blame River for not fully understanding, but it would have been nice to have had a little more help with the cleaning. She was tired, miserable and itchy from the dried food still covering her hair and arms. She looked up as the captain's footsteps announced his entrance into the galley area.

Mal paused in the doorway, trying hard not to smirk at the sight of his two youngest crewmates busily cleaning away. He ran his eyes appreciatively around the room. They'd done a fine job. Hell, he mused, he couldn't remember the last time the galley looked this bright and clean.

"Well," he commented, "You done a right fine job. No less than I expected of you."

Aymee wiped her forehead with her free hand and dropped the dirty washcloth onto the table. She waited for the captain to say more. Instead, Mal strode over to the table, pulled a chair out from its side and dragged it to the middle of the room. Patting the chair affectionately, Mal looked at the younger of the two miscreants and smiled grimly.

"Time to settle up," he said.

Aymee sighed deeply. The inevitability of her situation seemed unfair to her. "You really mean to go through with this?" she questioned him.

"You break the rules on my ship, you get reminded of them – by me."

Aymee somehow couldn't envision Jayne or Simon being asked to take a thrashing over the captain's knee though and remained unconvinced.

"I don't recall seein' no posting up `bout the illegality of food fights," she grumbled her lower lip jutting out in defiance.

Mal fixed her with a warning look, "You really think this a good time to be sassy?"

"No sir." Aymee conceded unhappily, and forced herself to trudge reluctantly over to where Mal stood. She refused to look him in the face as he sat down in the chair and took her by the wrist.

"There's consequences to everything you do, Aymee," Mal stated as he pulled the girl over his lap. "Some of `em are good, and some ...well, ain't so good."

River stood back by the sink, transfixed by the sight of her friend being put face down over the captain's lap. Mal looked down at Aymee's grimy dress, made a mild face of disgust, and then reached down and lifted up the dress hem with thumb and forefinger to bare her dirt-free panties. Aymee reacted with a whimper of fear for what was about to come her way. Mal raised his arm and brought it down full force, his hard hand connecting solidly with the girl's unprotected backside. Aymee yelped, River gasped and Mal let fly with another hard swat this one landing dead center.

"No spanking," River murmured fearfully as her hands went defensively to her own rear.

Mal paddled Aymee's bottom thoroughly giving her ten good hard swats before he stopped a moment.

"You know why you're gettin' this thrashing?" Mal asked the girl over his lap.

Aymee sputtered in dismay. It wasn't enough he was whupping her raw, now he wanted to play twenty questions! She wanted very badly to tell Mal the reason she was getting the spanking was because he was a baboon's ass but remembered just as quickly that he hadn't taken too kindly to that sort of remark the last time she was bent over his knee.

Thinking she was being defiant in not answering him, Mal spoke up, his voice hard and flat. "You think you're gonna sit here quiet like, tao shen _(naughty child)_, you best think again. Answer the question or mayhap you feel the need for some more encouragement?" He began spanking her again, this time a bit harder and faster.

Aymee quickly managed in between grunts of pain to provide a somewhat more diplomatic answer than she would have liked. "Because I'm a - OW! - brainless fool – OW! - what don't have smarts to know better – OW!- than to play with her food – AIYA! WO DE MA! _(damn! Mother of god!)_"

Mal laid down a rather painful pattern of swats going from the top of her backside to the top of her thighs, making sure to overlay every few of the swats for good measure. He remembered the thrashings he'd been on the receiving end of as a child back on Shadow and realized that his mother had been right. It did hurt as much to give as to get. Well, he reflected as he brought his hand down again on Aymee's now tender sit spot and heard her hoarse yell, maybe those givin' weren't quite feeling the hurt as bad as those gettin'. Mal smiled faintly, somewhat amused by the irony.

"You going to be wastin' any more food, Aymee?" he questioned as his hard hand continued to rise and fall against her incredibly sore bottom.

"AH! NO SIR!" Aymee yelled as her eyes flooded with tears.

She felt as if her backside was on fire, each spank the captain delivered blazing a stinging trail of pain across her inflamed bottom. She was trying her best not to cry but the burning heat she felt was making it rather difficult and finally, with a small sob, Aymee let go and began bawling in earnest. She was truly sorry for what she'd done and wished desperately that she could turn back the clock in order to avoid this whole painful mess.

Mal, upon hearing Aymee crying, gave her one final hard smack on her sit spot, satisfied that his young charge had gotten the message loud and clear. He let Aymee up and she took a few steps back out of his reach while she sniffled miserably and cradled her sore butt in her hands. Mal waited a few moments for the girl to calm down and then reached out to raise Aymee's chin up to meet his concerned gaze.

"I think you've learned a valuable lesson here, Aymee. You wanna tell me what that might be?"

"Don't waste food...'specially when it's hard to come by and we can't afford it and when I know better," Aymee muttered tearfully as she rubbed her aching backside.

"And?" Mal pressed.

Aymee sniffed and scowled. What did he mean '_and'_!

"And don't sass the captain when he's already in a lather," she sullenly added glaring at Mal who was now smiling at her.

"So, we're square on this?"

"Square, cap'n," was Aymee's small pained reply.

Mal stood up and dragged the chair back to its place as Zoe's voice came over the com.

"Sir, we're back with the cargo."

"Thanks, Zoe," Mal replied, "I'll be down in a minute. I need you to head up to the bridge and get Serenity warmed up."

"On my way, sir," Zoe replied.

Mal turned and looked at his charges. Aymee stood groaning and rubbing her tingling backside while River stood near the sink still as a statue. The older girl had tried to tie a large pot lid to the back of her dress.

She looked up at Mal and shook her head. "No spanking - the behavior is modified! I don't need a penalty!"

Mal chuckled, "I ain't gonna thrash ya this time, little one." He went over to River and reached down to untie the lid. "Much as you might be deservin', I kinda figure the bad plannin' on this caper wasn't yours." He shifted and pointed at Aymee. "**You** can head yourself over to that corner and park your nose to the wall `til I come back."

Aymee sighed deeply, the irony of the moment not lost on her and sullenly trudged to the designated spot and turned to face the wall. The incredibly clean, shiny wall, she silently noted and then glimpsed a speck of what looked to be protein paste mocking her on the surface of the wall directly in front of her nose. She reached out to scratch at it with a fingernail, squinting, and then absentmindedly licked a thumb and rubbed at the stain.

River and Mal just stared at the girl a moment. Then River giggled and skipped to the opposite corner from her friend and pirouetted to face the wall matching Aymee's stance. To her it was just another game. Aymee was not amused.

"Well, that's fine by me," Mal commented lightly. "But I catch you two naughty brats starin' at anything other than the wall when I come back, and you'll be takin' all your meals standin' up for the next week."

"Yes, captain." Both girls answered in unison.

Aymee made a strangled sound, looked up and over at River in annoyance, and then put her forehead back against the wall and let out a ragged sigh. Mal left them to check on the rest of the crew down in the cargo bay.

###

"What in guay _(hell)_ is going on here!?" Simon sputtered upon seeing his sister and Aymee standing in opposite corners of the kitchen, noses to the wall. "And what have you got all over yourselves?"

The two teens looked for all the world like someone had dredged them in flour which made absolutely no sense whatsoever to the doctor. Zoe had entered the kitchen now and came to a dead stop, a look of confusion on her usually amiable face. She glanced at Simon shooting him a quizzical look. Simon shrugged helplessly, his mouth hung open in wonder and then gazed back at the two girls trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together but not succeeding.

"River?" Simon finally questioned and then looked hesitantly over to Aymee. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm just dandy!" was the acid reply from Aymee's corner.

"We were naughty," River piped up, her voice slightly muffled from facing the wall. She smiled at her brother over her shoulder, "Naughty gorramn brats. Captain spanked Aymee, but not me."

"Well, thank you, River," Aymee snapped tiredly from her corner, her face flushing with embarrassment. "Because I'm sure everyone needed to know that!"

Simon shook his head and shot a clinical eye at the ship's wayward youngster. "You do seem to have a knack for getting yourself into...predicaments," he wryly observed and Aymee bit her tongue to keep from saying something she really, really shouldn't.

Simon glanced over at River a moment. She looked to be measuring the distance from the floor to the ceiling of her corner with her hands while mumbling numbers under her breath. He then turned back to Aymee and sighed. "While I can appreciate from an entirely objective standpoint why you drag my sister into your bu tai zheng chang de _(not entirely sane)_ forays, I'd somehow feel a lot better if you'd just leave her out of them."

A low growl issued from Aymee's corner but she refrained from further comment.

"Did…did she just…growl at me?" Simon sputtered in amazement and looked at Zoe for confirmation.

Zoe's brows raised in disbelief. She shook her head, muttered something about nursery schools and headed for the bridge to get Serenity warmed up. Simon just stood in the middle of the spotless kitchen unsure of what to do.

"Well shiny. I'm glad you took me seriously this time," Mal stated as he strode into the galley from the aft hallway. He grinned at River and Aymee as they stood in their respective corners, one standing in perfect attention like a little soldier and the other slumped dejectedly and rubbing her backside. "Looks like you two have learnt your lesson. Now, go get washed up and see about helping Kaylee and Jayne down in the cargo bay."

Simon, still confused, shot a look at the captain. "Mal?"

Mal ignored the doctor as he watched Aymee trudged past. The captain smiled warmly and called after her retreating form. "By the way, zhao shou _(annoying child)_? Now that the two of you got everything neat and tidy 'round here, I figure you should have the kitchen duties for the rest of the month."

Aymee's back stiffened at this additional punishment. She closed her eyes a moment and sighed heavily but knew better than to complain out loud at this point. "Thank you, cap'n," she managed over her shoulder with difficulty and then continued down the aft hall to the stairwell cursing Mal's name in Chinese under her breath. Aymee stomped down the metal stairs, and brushed coldly past a startled Inara as she headed for the shower.

"Well, this just turned out to be a gorramn fine day…" Aymee muttered angrily to River as she grabbed up a clean towel from the stack by the communal bathroom. River attempted to follow her friend into the room but was met with the door as Aymee slammed it shut in her face.

"Fine day," River echoed.

###

Most of the crew of Serenity had called it a night and were long in their bunks. But Aymee couldn't sleep. She kept going over the day in her mind and somehow, she couldn't quite reconcile it all. There'd been no angry looks or reproachful comments from anyone when she'd sat down, albeit very gingerly, at the dinner table that evening. Not one person had made reference to her and River's inexcusable foolhardiness all day other than Jayne. Even the captain had treated her pleasantly enough as if nothing had ever happened and no one made any remarks about her constant squirming about on the hard wood chair due to her still sore behind. That gnawed at the young woman.

Her mind churning, she swung her bare feet out of her bed and shivered in the cold but didn't grab for her boots or work clothes. Instead, she reached for something on her dresser and then headed for the hatch to her quarters. Aymee quietly climbed the ladder of her bunk, her over-sized nightshirt swaying against her coltish legs. She listened for a moment hearing nothing more than the comforting hum and groan of Serenity around her. Glancing down the foredeck hallway, she spotted Inara sitting at the table in the galley and headed for her.

Inara was lounging at the kitchen table while Zoe, her back to Aymee, stood at the ancient stove pouring tea into a chipped mug. Aymee scrunched up her face as she came through the doorway of the kitchen and waved a hand dramatically in front of her nose as she cast a glance of uncertainty about the room.

"Smells like a wet sheepdog!" Aymee remarked, "Was Jayne just in here?"

"I haven't seen Jayne since supper," said Inara. "But you can blame Kaylee for the new odor. She was flushing out the air ducts earlier."

Zoe chuckled at this and returned to the table with two steaming cups of tea. She set one down in front of Inara. "I like Aymee's reasoning better," Zoe said. She took a sip of her tea. "Jayne does smell." Zoe looked over to Aymee. "What are you still doing up, little girl?"

"Couldn't sleep," the girl replied offhandedly. "Cap'n gone to bed already?"

"No," said Inara, "He's up on the bridge checking our course.

"For the hundredth time," Zoe smirked. "You got business with the captain at this hour?" she asked Aymee.

Aymee sighed and nodded. "Yeah...I need to give him something."

She made her goodbyes and headed back down the foreward hallway and up the short flight of steps to the bridge of the ship. Mal was rechecking the fuel to speed ratios when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Setting down the clipboard, he swiveled in his chair to see who it was and was somewhat surprised to see his youngest crewmember standing in the doorway in nothing more than an old worn shirt. It must have been one of Zoe's cast offs he mused as the hem of it fluttered well below Aymee's knees.

"Something on your mind?" Mal asked trying to keep his tone casual as he checked the nav stats on the main screen.

Aymee hesitated and then silently padded over to the captain and shoved something into the pocket of his work shirt. Mal frowned up at her and reached into his pocket to pull out a wad of crumpled bills. He stared at them and then back up at Aymee.

"It's a hunnert credits." Aymee quietly offered, "Was all I had. I hope it's enough."

"It's more'n `nough, mei-mei." Mal softly replied and tucked the wad back into his shirt pocket. Sensing that she wasn't done here, Mal remained silent waiting for Aymee to continue.

Aymee went over to the co-pilot chair and sat down, grimacing slightly as her butt made contact with the leather seat. She tucked her bare legs up under her nightshirt to keep them warm and looked up at her captain studying his careworn face. He gave her a soft smile.

"Cap'n," she began and then halted, not sure of what she wanted to say. Mal waited patiently. "Cap'n, I did a lot of thinkin'. And well...well, I just wanted to say I'm real sorry and you was right and..." her voice faltered and she bit her lip.

Mal didn't let her finish. "When I said we were square on this, Aymee, I meant it. It's done and over with and why we're still talkin' on it, I can't rightly figure."

"But the others-"

Mal shook his head. "This crew follows my orders and when I say something is done and over, then it's done. Ain't nobody's right to say otherwise, Aymee. They all know that as the captain, it's my responsibility to keep things level and they know they can count on me to be hard but fair when it comes to handin' out the law around here."

The girl remained silent. Mal's tone grew softer. "We're family, and family stands by each other in hard times and good. Family don't go layin' blame at one another's doorsteps. Hell, we may squabble at times, but it don't mean we don't care `bout one another. It don't mean we don't hurt when one of us is hurtin' or want to help when one of is in trouble." He leaned forward now to gaze into Aymee's eyes as they welled up with tears. "They know what you and River done. And they know I settled it square. There weren't nothing more for any of `em to say or do on it."

A tear traveled slowly down Aymee's cheek. Mal reached over and gently brushed away the tear, feeling a mite uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Best be gettin' to bed, xiaou mei-mei _(little sister)_," he softly murmured.

Aymee stood up, started for the door, and then turned back and suddenly threw her arms around the captain to give him a fierce hug. Caught off guard, Mal raised his arms in mild bewilderment and then just as quickly enclosed the child in them and gave a gruff hug back. He reached over to tousle her hair as she sniffled into the front of his shirt. Aymee grinned up at him, her lashes wet and he gave her a lopsided grin back, his heart aching a little at the realization of how attached he'd become to the little brat.

"It's good to have family," Aymee whispered, a hitch in her voice as she looked up at Mal.

"It is at that," Mal gently agreed and then gave her a mock stern look. "Bed, and that's an order," he gently stated in a no-nonsense tone slinging a thumb in the direction of the hatchway. Aymee nodded once and strode off down the hall her heart warm with the knowledge that she not only belonged but was very much loved and wanted.


	2. One for the Road

### ONE FOR THE ROAD ###

River closed one bloodshot eye to focus her attention on just one of the fuzzy Aymee's sitting across the galley table from her. She gave her friend a sloppy smile.

"Mal means bad in Latin," River announced, her tone more serious than it needed to be.

"Really?" Aymee slurred. She blinked and thought a moment. It didn't help that the half bottle of the captain's brandy she and River had chugged seemed to have slowed down her brain and therefore her ability to speak coherently. "So... Jayne in Latin must mean…big ugly dumbass?"

Both girls broke into gales of hysterical laughter almost falling out of their seats. Aymee recovered first, her blurry eyes trying to focus on the pair of Rivers across the table from her. "Hey...um...hey…what were we just laughing at?" she pondered, then snorted, unable to keep from giggling at River who was wobbling unsteadily in her chair, scratching her head as if in deep thought.

River and Aymee started at the male voice that suddenly intruded on their little drinking party.

"That my bottle of brandy?" Mal angrily questioned.

He'd been drawn to the galley of Serenity by the high-pitched shrieks of laughter and now stood, darkly eyeing the almost empty bottle of liquor with an ominous frown.

Inara, who had been directly behind the captain, came around him and blinked in surprise at the scene taking place. "Mal, what's going on?" she questioned, not wanting to believe what her eyes were telling her. No. They _wouldn't dare_, Inara thought in growing alarm.

Aymee and River drunkenly gazed up at Mal and then down at the empty bottle between them on the table. Aymee snorted first but was quickly followed by River and then the giggles grew into full blown laughter and hands slapping against the table in earnest as they tried to catch their breath.

"Renzi de fotzu _(merciful Buddha)_," Inara swore under her breath. "Mal, these two are three sheets to the wind!" She leaned in close to Aymee then quickly drew back as the alcohol fumes hit her. "Agh! She smells like a distillery!"

Mal hadn't said a word. He stood, his mouth set in a tight grim line, watching River and Aymee as they tried to staunch the flood of helpless giggles coming from their mouths while gripping the table's edge to keep from tottering over.

Stalking over to the com, Mal slapped the on button, his temper lending a harsh edge to his voice. "Jayne! Get up to the galley!" he shouted unnecessarily as Jayne appeared from the forward hallway, knife and whetstone in hand.

"Ya don't gotta yell, Mal, I'm right here," Jayne commented off-handedly.

He hawked up a gob of saliva to spit onto the whetstone in his left hand and then glanced up absently at the scene in front of him. He ended up swallowing his spit in surprise.

"Zen me le? (_what's going on_?)" he gawped.

Mal pointed to River and Aymee. "They're drunk, that's what's going on!"

Mal reached over to grab River's shoulder as she began to list sideways off her chair, her eyelids drooping at half-mast.

He sighed angrily. "Gorramit! That was my good brandy too!"

He looked between the two girls, a grim set to his jaw. "I know a couple of misbehavin' little girls that ain't gonna be sittin' too easy," he announced as he hauled River up from the table, throwing an arm around her shoulder to keep her upright on her rubbery legs. "Jayne, help me get these two down to the med-bay," he ordered.

With a grumble of dissension, Jayne dropped his knife and whetstone onto the table and bent down, reaching for Aymee, who had fallen asleep in her seat. He grabbed at her midsection, lifting up until Aymee was slung neatly over his shoulder, looking for all the world like a limp sack of potatoes.

The rough jostling woke Aymee up enough to realize she was no longer sitting at the table but was now being carried by someone down the rear hallway of the ship. She reached down to smack the butt of the person carrying her in order to get their attention.

"Hey, hey! You know what? Know what I learned? Jayne in Latin means big dumb ass!" Aymee snorted with drunken glee, slapping Jayne's back several times, rather pleased at her joke. "Hey, but don't tell Jayne I said that," she slurred and then promptly passed out, going limp once more over the merc's broad shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll make sure not to tell him that," Jayne dryly shot over his shoulder at the girl. He turned towards Mal, who was having his own trouble manoeuvring a stumbling, inebriated River down the hall. Jayne nodded at Aymee. "When she sobers up, can I thrash her?" Jayne asked him.

"That's my job, Jayne," Mal tiredly shot back.

Jayne thought a moment. "Well, then, can I watch?"

Mal pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Just get her to the med-bay," he tiredly ordered, wondering what he'd done to deserve this latest bu fen da ma fan (_piece of trouble_).

Jayne complied, but gave Aymee a rough shake, rolling his eyes in disgust. "Oughtta drop your boozey ass right here and make ya crawl the rest of the way to the med-bay," he sullenly muttered. "But I'm kinda hoping Doc gives ya something to sober you up quick-like, so's I can watch while Mal wallops the pants offa you." Jayne smiled grimly. "Maybe if I ask nice, he'll let me do it for him. Wouldn't mind gettin' in a few licks on you, little girl. Teach you to call me a dumbass – drunk or no."

Aymee woke up a few hours later in the infirmary, her head pounding and her mouth dry as cotton. She sat up, blinking, and raised a hand up to shield her sensitive eyes from the glare of the doc's bright exam lights.

"Where'm I?" she moaned. "Wha happened? River?"

"River's already had a talkin' to and been put to bed," Mal announced loudly, causing Aymee to wince in pain.

"Not s'loud!" she groused. "Aiya! Huai le! _(Damn! Shit on my head_). My head is throbbing to beat the band."

Mal offered the teenager a dark smile as he closed the distance between them. "Well now, looks to me like your backside'll be joining that little orchestra in a minute," he observed.

Aymee stopped rubbing her temples. "Huh?" She asked carefully, even though she had a pretty good idea what Mal meant.

Mal wrapped his fingers in a firm grip around one of Aymee's arms, hauling her off the exam table. She stumbled forward, and Mal used the momentum to pull Aymee down over his lap as he took a seat on the little stool next to the table. Without preamble, Mal brought his hand down hard, relishing the crisp smacking sound it made when the hand connected with Aymee's presented bottom.

Aymee yelped, eyes going wide. Mal lit into her in earnest then, his arm a blur for the next several minutes as Aymee howled and thrashed, trying to remove her butt from the line of fire.

"Cap'n, please!" Aymee bawled, eyes tearing from the intense heat building across her scorched bottom, "I'll get ya another bottle! I swear!"

Mal chuckled, amused at his young pilot's offer.

"I can get my own liquor just fine, tao shen (_naughty child_)," he replied, and applied a volley of solid swats to Aymee's sit spot, eliciting a torrent of broken curses and sobs from the girl. "What I can't get and don't want is a drunk charge who's too young to be imbibing in the first place! Dong le ma? (_you understand me_?)"

Aymee howled her agreement, wincing and jerking with every slap of Mal's hand across her blazing rear. She mentally kicked herself for ever thinking a drop or two of that vile brandy would be fun to try, as Mal continued to warm the seat of her pants with his callused hand, lecturing his youngest crew member on the evils of alcohol.


	3. Of Ships and Shoes and Elephants

### OF SHIPS AND SHOES AND ELEPHANTS ###

WEDNESDAY - 10:17 PM BEAUMONDE TIME...

Aymee scampered up the ramp of the firefly class ship known as Serenity, her mind desperately fixated on trying to come up with a plan, excuse..._anything_ to keep her from getting into hot water for this one. She'd only let the girl out of her sight for a second, a paltry itty bitty second. Where the gorramn hell could River be?

ONE DAY EARLIER…

Mal had gotten word from Badger, one of his many shady contacts, that there was an easy job with a big payoff on Beaumonde that Mal and the crew could pick up if they were interested. Apparently, a local 'entrepreneur' named Denning owned most of the banks in the smaller towns on the planet. It had recently come to Badger's attention that Denning kept a data stick containing all the security codes and download passwords for his banks in a wall safe in his office in Hedeby. All Mal had to do was get the stick from Denning's safe and deliver it to Badger on Persephone. Simple enough, Mal thought.

WEDNESDAY – 1:17PM BEAUMONDE TIME…

Serenity had landed on the far side of Beaumonde outside the town of Hedeby where Jayne had taken the mule to pick up some much needed supplies and get the 'lay of the land' as he called it. The gruff merc had returned to the ship a few hours later quite excited to announce that a carnival was going on in the town and that there was a small zoo with a real live elephant you could ride on if you were willing to pay the ten credits charge for the privilege.

"Jayne," Mal interrupted the other man's enthusiastic rant by raising a hand, "What about the safe? Didja manage to find out about the safe?"

"Sure, Mal," Jayne sounded somewhat hurt, "But don'tcha wanna hear 'bout the dancing girls and the carnival rides? I love that one that spins ya about and –"

"The **safe**," Mal tried again to change the subject back to the more important matter at hand.

"Yeah, right, okay, the safe." Jayne sounded less enthused but answered his boss's question. "Got to talkin' with a feller what runs one of the local bars in town. His sister-in-law's friendly with Denning, if ya know what I mean."

Jayne smirked and raised an eyebrow, but no one else seemed amused so he continued. "So's anyway, she told this here bartender that Denning has a little key he keeps attached to his watch chain that's s'posed to be the one and only key to his wall safe. He even bragged about it to her sayin' he don't even worry lockin' the door to the office half the time since no one would be able to get into the safe without the key and he don't never take it off himself."

"Can't we just pick the lock or blow the safe?" Zoe questioned looking up from her cup of coffee.

"I'm gettin' to that," Jayne growled shooting the woman an impatient look. He turned back to the captain. "Seems Denning has some sort of booby-trap mechanism set up and if you mess with the lock or anything without that key, it goes off."

Mal raised his brows. "Goes off? You mean, like an alarm?"

"More like a big explosion to hear the bartender talkin'." Jayne shook his head. "This ain't sounding as easy as Badger explained it, Mal. I ain't up fer gettin' pieces of me blowed off."

"I hate to admit it, but I'm with Jayne," Simon piped up. "I like life just the way it is – with all our original parts intact."

"I can get the key."

Aymee's cocksure voice carried from where she stood along with River leaning up against the far counter adjacent to one of the galley's hatches. Everyone turned from the kitchen table to observe the teenager as she pushed herself off the edge of the counter and sauntered over to the group. She gave a little half shrug.

"There ain't a pocket in the 'verse what I can't pick."

"Ain't that easy, l'il britches." Jayne countered. "Denning's got two goons he keeps around for protection. They ain't gonna let you get anywhere near him."

"I ain't too worried about the hired help. We can take care of them easy enough." Mal thought aloud, the wheels now turning in his head to form a plan. He glanced over to Aymee fixing her with a steady stare. "What I need to know from you, mei-mei, is if you really think you can get that key."

Aymee snorted at his lack of faith in her abilities, her voice now touched with a bit of annoyance. "I already said I could. You just get rid of his shadows for me, and I'll take care of the key."

"I'm sorry," Simon suddenly spoke up from his seat next to Kaylee, "but doesn't anyone here think that endangering the life of a child might possibly be wrong?"

"Oh, Simon," Kaylee patted his arm in reassurance, "Capt'n wouldn't never let Aymee do it if he thought she might get hurt."

"'Sides," Jayne cut in, "She's the one what offered to help. Mal ain't forcing her-"

"Oh, and I suppose that makes it okay then," Simon shot back in agitation giving Jayne a look of disgust. They all knew where he stood on the issue of involving River in any of the captain's petty heists.

Mal's voice rose over the argument, "Ain't nobody's decision but mine to make, Doc. Aymee's a member of my crew and I wouldn't have her doing this unless I was sure she could pull it off safe."

"Which I can." Aymee attested when Mal gave her a look that begged for reassurance of his words. "_Really_." she added when Simon still seemed unconvinced.

Zoe and Inara exchanged unsure glances, but Mal had made up his mind already. River who had been silently lurking around the edges of the ivy-painted room while the adults were discussing things, now spoke up, her voice oddly detached.

"Shouldn't have fed the monkey," she whispered sadly as she wrapped her arms protectively around herself.

Everyone gave the girl a puzzled look, but River didn't feel the need to elaborate further. Instead, she backed up against the far wall of the kitchen still clutching herself and began to slowly slide down its surface as if her legs had given way. River reached the floor and sat down, her lacy skirt puddling about her thin legs. She drew her knees up to her chest, her eyes shadowed with something akin to fear.

Simon rose from the kitchen table, his face a mask of troubled alarm and quickly made his way over to his sister, kneeling down to check on her as the girl mumbled something incoherent. Shaking off River's cryptic comment as nothing more than an over-medication issue, Mal went back to coming up with a plan to get the data stick from the wall safe once Aymee had the key.

WEDNESDAY - 4:23 PM BEAUMONDE TIME ...

All had gone according to plan. Mal, Zoe and Jayne had managed to sidetrack Denning's ape-like bodyguards long enough for Aymee to snatch the key from the man. It hadn't been that hard really what with all the noise and distractions provided by the carnival set up along the dusty main street of the town. Barkers in pinstriped suits and town folk dressed in their finest, buzzed around the maze of food and game booths like a swarm of lively bees.

Aymee gazed longingly at the sparkly cotton candy and multi-colored ice cream cones in one booth, but Mal shook his head.

"We ain't got time for that," he told her as he steered her away from the enticement. "We got a job to do."

"Can't we just take an hour – just one teeny tiny hour, cap'n – to have some fun?" the girl wheedled. "We been working hard as draft horses the past two months and I can't even remember the last time I had me some ice cream..._pleeeease_?"

Being in good spirits and somewhat amused at his young charge's eye fluttering plea, Mal was on the verge of giving in for once. He knew only too well how long it had been since he and the crew had been able to take a decent shore leave and just relax and let their hair down a little. Just as he was about to tell Aymee to go ahead and run back to get her treat, he spotted a fluttering sign tacked to one of the nearby trees lining the side of the street nearest them. The captain's blood turned suddenly cold as he stared at the familiar face on the leaflet.

Simon Tam's smiling mug looked back at Mal from the faded wanted poster. The captain casually made his way over to the piece of paper forgetting about Aymee and the others for a moment. The sign was basically an old warrant for the wayward doctor and his sister, but what set the hairs on the back of Mal's neck quivering was the fact that such a poster was still being passed around at all after their little run in with the operative back on Miranda. Mal had been cautiously optimistic that once the secret about the pax experiment had been broadwaved out to the entire 'verse, the alliance would be too busy trying to assuage the masses that they'd just forget about River and Simon all together or at the very least, no longer see them as potential liabilities. Apparently not, Mal realized with a growing sense of defeat. Just shiny.

"Problem, sir?" Zoe questioned from directly behind Mal, making him jump.

He nodded at the sign. "Looks like we might need to be a little more invisible than planned on," he sighed. "Let's get back to the ship, Zoe. All of a sudden, I got a bad feeling about all this."

WEDNESDAY – 10:19 PM BEAUMONDE TIME...

Aymee glanced nervously about before entering the cargo bay to make sure no one had seen her. It wouldn't do to get caught walking back _onto_ the ship when she wasn't supposed to have left it in the first place!

The captain had been pretty clear on that after spotting the wanted poster in town. He had ordered everyone, but especially River and Simon, to stay on board the ship to be on the safe side. There were just too many Alliance friendly locals in the town, Mal had cautioned the crew - too much of a chance that someone might take a notion to fatten their wallets with the bounty being offered on Simon and River.

WEDNESDAY – 8:57PM BEAUMONDE TIME...

"How come we all gotta stay on board, Mal, when it's just the two of them that are wanted?" Jayne complained. He shot Simon and River a nasty glare. "I wanted to ride the elephant."

"And what about Inara?" Kaylee sounded worried, "She's already on her way to New DunsMuir for a Guild meeting."

"'Nara can take care of herself just fine," Mal said as he stood in front of the weapons cage inside the cargo bay. "We'll meet her in New DunsMuir soon as we're finished up here. And you can ride an elephant some other time, Jayne." Mal rolled his eyes at the lunacy of that image. "No one leaves this boat while Zoe and I go do our business."

He handed an extra cartridge of bullets to his first mate who efficiently tucked them into her belt pouch. Mal shrugged into his worn brown duster and picked up a small hand grenade.

"Once we get that data stick and deliver it to Badger, we'll have money enough to buy our own ruttin' circus and you can eat cotton candy and watch dog and pony shows all the live long day."

They had decided it was best to wait until nightfall before breaking into Denning's office. The entire town would be out at the carnival's stage show offering Mal and Zoe a chance to sneak in and out without notice. Kaylee gave Mal and Zoe a worried wave goodbye commanding them to be careful. Mal and Zoe headed down the cargo bay ramp and into the dusky evening towards the flickering lights of Hedeby. Kaylee hit the button to raise the ramp and then headed for the engine room. There was always enough tinkering to be done in there to keep her more than busy during the next few hours. Aymee should have gone up to the bridge to re-check the nav stats in case they had to make a quick getaway. Instead, she stood near the closed bay doors pouting as did Jayne.

"Ain't fair," Jayne muttered as he pivoted and headed for the stairs and the privacy of his bunk to sulk. "Could'a had a capture made of me on that elephant...woulda been something to send home to my ma..."

Aymee didn't say anything. There was no point. River had padded up behind her friend and placed an amiable arm around Aymee's shoulders, whether done in comfort or just plain friendship, Aymee didn't know or care. She looked up at River and smiled wistfully.

"I woulda brought ya back a cone, ya know. Chocolate...or maybe strawberry." Aymee offered, her mouth-watering at the images she conjured up. "Carnival food's the best."

"I've never been to a carnival," River replied solemnly, and Aymee blinked at her.

"Never? You mean never _ever_?"

River shook her head sadly. "No circus at the Academy. No ice cream. Just needles...and pain."

Aymee bit her lip in dismay. She knew her best friend had been through some pretty scary things, but it had never occurred to her that River hadn't been able to experience the silly fun things most normal folks did. She had forgotten that the girl had been taken at a young age from her home and sent to that horrible place where they had messed with her brain. Aymee had always just assumed that with all the money the Tams had, they would have certainly taken their children to the circus at least once.

"So, you ain't never seen an elephant or rode on the whizzer cars or played shoot the hoop for a stuffed doll?"

River shook her head again and Aymee stood a minute staring hard at the cargo bay door thinking, and then glanced up to the catwalk checking to see if anyone was about. She knew what she was planning was totally risky and ill advised, but one glance at River's sad face decided it. Aymee gave River a reassuring squeeze and disengaged from her friend to take one last look around.

"Know what?" She grinned at River who grinned right back in imitation. "You and me are gettin' some ice cream and going on the whizzer cars. We'll just be quick-like and be back afore Zoe and the captain - no one else'll even miss us."

Aymee clapped River on the back a little too hard causing her to cough involuntarily. "It ain't right you havin' such a le se _(crappy)_ time of it all your life. Let's go have you some fun."

"We're going to ride a whizzer," River happily exclaimed. Although she wasn't quite sure what exactly a whizzer was, it sure sounded exciting the way Aymee said it.

River followed the other girl to the small door set into the larger bay door, but pulled up short suddenly. Aymee stopped and turned to see what was holding River up.

"No feeding the monkey," River gravely stated.

Aymee wasn't sure what to make of that. "Um, okay…we won't feed the monkey…that all?"

"Promise?" River demanded.

"Cross my heart, hope ta die," Aymee joked making a crossing motion over her breast with her finger.

"No, don't die. That wouldn't be fun." River replied seriously. Aymee grabbed the older girl's hand with an exaggerated sigh and dragged her through the outer door hatch and into the night.

WEDNESDAY – 10:22PM BEAUMONDE TIME...

Aymee and River had snuck out to go experience the sights and sounds of the Hedeby carnival, and now, Aymee was returning - minus River - to the ship. Her legs shook at the thought of how the captain would react to this little glitch in his plan. Maybe she wouldn't have to tell him, she convinced herself. Maybe he and Zoe wouldn't be back before she found River and so he'd never have to know what happened. Maybe River was already back in her room on board the ship right this very second. Yeah sure, she thought, and maybe I'll become the Queen of Londinium.

The bay proved to be empty. Aymee kept to the shadows along the one side of the area anyway just in case and kept checking behind her dreading to hear the footsteps of the captain returning from the job. She had half hoped to somehow spot River in the huge cargo bay, but that would have been asking for a miracle at this point. Aymee made it to the bottom metal step of the right hand stairway when she heard the doctor call out to her from the catwalk directly above. She froze one foot on the step not sure of what to do. She pretended not to hear him, but he called over to her again, more insistent. Simon started down the stairs towards her, and Aymee figured it was too late to run without looking totally guilty. She hesitated on the metal stair, trying hard to act normal if that was even possible in her agitated state of mind.

"Hey," He smiled at the girl. "Have you seen River? I know you two were playing down here earlier but I can't seem to find her."

"Uh...she's probably just off hiding somewheres waiting for one of us to find her. You know how she likes to play at that." Aymee hastily rambled. She fidgeted uncomfortably as if a million ants were crawling up and down her skin.

Simon frowned slightly, observing her nervousness. "Everything all right here?"

"Sure," Aymee replied a little too loudly. She jumped at her own voice and then gave a short crazy little laugh before nodding once politely at Simon. "Gotta go. Business." she blurted and just about flew up the stairs as Simon watched her in amused puzzlement.

Aymee frantically searched the entire ship for her missing comrade not really believing she'd find River anywhere on board, but the act of searching made her feel less helpless and gave her a chance to form a plan of action, if one could call it that. Luckily, the Captain and Zoe hadn't returned and most everyone else was busy with things and didn't notice her somewhat erratic behavior. Giving up the search, she went to find the one person that might understand the situation and would offer to help rather than just kill her outright.

"Kaylee!" Aymee yelled down the hall toward the engine room. Please be there, she silently prayed.

"In here," a cheery female voice replied.

Aymee ducked into the messy over-crowded engine room, checked to make sure no one else was there besides the mechanic and then smiled nervously while shifting from one foot to the other.

"Hey, Aymee, whatcha up to?" Kaylee greeted her younger friend as she wiped grease off a rather dirty lug wrench she'd been working with.

"Yeah, great," Aymee replied not even hearing what the older girl had said. She looked at Kaylee and tried to speak in a normal voice that came out slightly jittery anyway. "I uh, kinda lost something...important...and I need ya to help me find it."

"Well sure, sweetie," Kaylee said. She dropped the now clean wrench into the battered steel toolbox on the floor in front of her and smiled up at Aymee. "I'll help ya. Whadja lose?"

"Um...River."

Kaylee blinked. "Shu muh? _(what)_" she asked in disbelief.

Aymee swallowed hard. "I lost River. Somewhere. Outside."

"_YOU LOST RIVER_?!" Kaylee exploded in panic.

Aymee blanched and quickly shoved her hands up over Kaylee's mouth in scared annoyance. "Ta me da _(shit on my head)_!" She hissed at Kaylee. "Are you tryin' to get me killed?"

Kaylee shook her head and Aymee slowly removed her hands and then risked a quick peek out the engine room door to make sure no one had heard. She turned back to Kaylee who was standing there gaping at the girl in horror.

"You lost River?" Kaylee repeated and Aymee cringed. It really sounded pretty horrible coming out of someone else's mouth.

"I didn't mean to!"

"But how? We weren't s'posed to leave the ship, remember?" Kaylee's voice was full of disbelief.

Aymee sighed deeply, kicking herself for her lack judgment and her 20-20 hindsight in realizing it. She tried to explain. "One minute we was standing watching the little monkey dance, and the next –"

"Monkey?" Kaylee looked confused and Aymee waved off the comment.

"That ain't important. What's important is River and me was at the carnival and one minute she was standing next to me and then she weren't. And I swear to you, Kaylee, I looked all over that gorramn spit hole of a circus," Aymee lowered her voice conspiratorially, "I even checked the men's room!"

"Oh," Kaylee managed as she absently wiped her hands with the grease-stained rag she was holding. "Maybe we better call the captain and Zoe." She suggested hesitantly.

"Are you off your nut?!" Aymee choked, her eyes widening in horror. "The cap'n will have my hide if he finds out I left the ship much less misplaced River!"

She gave Kaylee a pleading look and reached out to take hold of one of the mechanic's dirty sleeves. "Please, ya gotta help me, Kaylee! Afore anyone figures out what's happened." She gave the sleeve a little tug. "I'm too young to die!"

Kaylee sympathized with the girl's plight. She reached over and gave Aymee's shoulder a gentle reassuring squeeze and offered up a weak smile. "It's gonna be okay, Aymee. We'll…we'll think of something." She scrunched her face up in thought. "Let's see. If I was River, where would I go?"

Aymee snorted. "Considering this is a crazy genius we're talking 'bout, Kaylee, there could be an awful lot of places she could go." She shook her head in dread. "Cap'n ain't never gonna let me off this ship again. Well, that is, if he don't shoot me."

"He won't shoot you," Kaylee scolded, "I won't let him. Now, you said you were watching a monkey before she disappeared?"

Aymee nodded unhappily, silently cursing the mangy animal for even existing.

"Well, did River say or do anything while she was standing there? Anything at all?"

"River was going on 'bout this n' that as usual. She was talking about how Jayne wanted to ride the elephant. You know, how he was goin' on and on about getting a capture made of him on the elephant to send home to his mother?"

Kaylee nodded.

"She said something like she wanted a capture made too, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. I mean, she's always repeating what folks say and all."

"You think maybe River went for an elephant ride?"

Aymee heaved another sigh. "I don't know, Kaylee. I s'pose she might have, but I checked the elephant pen and didn't see her there. Didn't see the elephant either for that matter. Some zoo." She said tiredly. Aymee thought hard a moment, then closed her eyes and groaned.

"What?" Kaylee questioned.

For one so young, Aymee wore a rather pained expression as she explained. "The elephant. He weren't in his pen when I got there and the keeper wasn't around neither. What if River took off on the elephant and the keeper reported her to the sheriff or somethin'?"

"We need to call the capt'n." Kaylee said somberly and stopped Aymee before she could protest. "Aymee, this is way too big of a mess for you and me to handle alone. And the capt'n will have a plan. I just know he will. I know you're scared, sweetie, but finding River is more important right now than you tryin' to avoid a thrashing from the capt'n."

Aymee cringed at that comment. Kaylee was right. She nodded reluctantly as the mechanic went over to the com link on the wall and hit the button to open a channel. A desperate light came into Aymee's eyes and she turned suddenly and headed for the door of the engine room. Kaylee hit the button to stop the call and yelled after Aymee.

"Where ya goin'?"

"Gimme half an hour afore you make that call." Aymee called over her shoulder, "I got me an idea."

WEDNESDAY – 11:32PM BEAUMONDE TIME…

"What do you mean they're not here?" Malcolm Reynolds demanded, his anger apparent.

Kaylee looked at the captain and winced. "I guess I sorta mean Aymee and River ain't on board the ship no more."

Mal scowled at his mechanic, not amused to hear this news. It had been a pretty stressful past two hours what with breaking into Denning's office. Now, he had to contend with this latest of setbacks. He reached up to hit the comlink shooting Kaylee a frustrated glare as if it was her fault for his troubles.

"Zoe? Need you and Jayne on the bridge. Now." Mal turned from the console and shook his head. "Can't things ever go smoothly?" he muttered.

Jayne was the first to reach the bridge, a bowl of steaming rice cupped in one hand and a large spoon in the other. He took a huge spoonful of the food while eyeing the two in front of him and then spoke around the mouthful.

"What'sa matter now?"

"Aymee and River are missing." Kaylee answered unhappily from behind Mal.

Zoe strode up the steps to the bridge and cocked an eyebrow at Kaylee. "Missing?"

Mal shot Kaylee a nasty glare before answering Zoe. "Kaylee here just told me Aymee and River snuck out to go to the carnival earlier and River disappeared. Aymee came back to the ship looking for her but then took off again saying something about the elephant ride."

Jayne snorted as he set his bowl of food down on the console by Kaylee. "See? I ain't the only one what was wantin' to do that."

Mal, Zoe and Kaylee looked at the merc as if he had suddenly sprouted another head.

"What?" Jayne asked his tone now defensive. "Hey, at least I weren't dumb enough to run off and go do it. What the hell was lil' britches thinkin' anyway?"

"Well, we can't just leave them out there," Kaylee said worriedly.

She looked around at her shipmates, concern growing in her eyes when no one spoke up. She sat up straighter in the pilot's chair, giving Zoe and Mal a rather pointed if not accusatory stare.

"Please tell me we ain't leaving them there, capt'n. There just little 'uns!"

Mal closed his eyes and let his head drop. "Gorramn it!" He swore slapping the console in front of him in consternation. "That si sheng zi _(illegitimate child)_ never listens!"

"Funny how she works that way, sir." Zoe deadpanned.

Mal looked up at Zoe, his jaw tightening in determination. "Ain't gonna be too funny when I get my hands on her."

Jayne smirked at that, and then pulled his gun from the holster and began checking the rounds. "Looks like it's rescuin' time agin, ain't it?" he quipped.

"Who are we rescuing?" Simon's voice came from the hatchway and Mal gritted his teeth in frustration as the doctor joined the group on the bridge looking around expectantly.

"This just keeps gettin' better and better." Mal spat.

WEDNESDAY – 11:00 PM BEAUMONDE TIME…

Aymee crouched unsteadily on the narrow beam of the overhang, hands braced up against the splintered wood of the ceiling. She surveyed the scene below her trying to press down the knot of fear rising in her belly. This was insane she told herself. What was supposed to be a simple plan to find and rescue River had somehow turned into a total nightmare instead.

How could she have possibly known that Denning and his crew _owned_ the zoo and carnival? What were the odds of that? The one man they had come to this planet to steal from was the same man who now had River trussed up like a Christmas day turkey sitting on the fan-dancy over-stuffed leather sofa in his office. Stupid monkey, Aymee angrily thought. If they hadn't stopped to play with the ruttin' hairball, River wouldn't have been recognized by Denning's men and gotten herself kidnapped.

"Look like anyone's been here?" Denning asked his men.

The two hard cases he employed as bodyguards gazed about the small office a moment and shrugged.

"Don't look like it." Yancy rasped as he reached for a bottle on the shelf behind the desk.

Aymee watched as the man grabbed the whiskey bottle and a glass from the upper shelf. She went cold as her eye spotted the telltale footprints in the dust of the shelf where she'd stepped earlier to climb up onto the rafter beam she was currently on. Hopefully, the angle was too high for anyone else to notice. She sure prayed it was.

"Hey, pour me one too," Treager ordered his friend.

Yancy hooked another glass from the board and set them both down on the scarred desk. He yanked the cork out of the whiskey bottle with his teeth and began pouring the amber liquid into the glasses in front of him as Denning did a slow once around the room.

"It just doesn't feel right," he commented quietly. "Something's up."

Denning had come back early – way early. Aymee had tracked River to Denning's office using bribes and various implied threats. She'd been lucky enough to find River alone, but tied up in the room and had been in the process of freeing her friend when the three men had come barging up the stairs. Aymee had barely had time to climb up onto her hidden perch. She knew she should just hang tight and wait for the captain and the others to come. But, then again, what if the others weren't coming? What if Kaylee hadn't told anyone yet that she and River were missing? Worse, what if she had and the captain figured they'd all be better off without the two young trouble-makers and they left them here?

She wobbled a little on the ledge and almost gasped aloud. Steadying herself again, she pushed that thought from her mind trying to think calming thoughts. Of course, they'd come. Someone was bound to notice they were gone from the ship. Kaylee, at the very least, would make notice of it. And, what was it Zoe was always saying? Leave no man behind, right?

Of course, the three men standing below her in the makeshift office would most certainly have disagreed with that. They'd not only leave the man behind; they'd torture, rob and kill him first and not necessarily in that order. That malevolent image brought the fear right back up to the front for the teenager. She closed her eyes, wishing very hard for the cavalry to show up soon.

WEDNESDAY – 1:00AM BEAUMONDE TIME…

Serenity had never looked so good to the crew as they wearily trudged up the cargo walkway. No one spoke; they were too dazed and worn out. All the energy had been taken out of them by the gun battle they'd just left back in town. Zoe who was bleeding slightly from a bullet graze to her arm, shouldered a limping cursing Jayne, his leg shot to pieces once again. Mal briefly wondered why the bad guys always seemed to aim for the merc's kneecaps as if that were some secret way to kill him.

River and Aymee trudged dejectedly in front of Mal looking like a pair of convicts on their way to the hangman's tree. The image was rather appropriate he decided considering that the crew's present circumstances were a direct result of their foolhardiness. He'd given them quite an earful on the way back to the ship and wasn't done yet at least with one of them. He eyed Aymee angrily.

"Told you not to feed the monkey." River quietly reproached her friend.

Aymee stopped in her tracks turning to glare at River. She opened her mouth to deliver a scathing reply but couldn't come up with anything for once. Shutting her mouth, she then shook her head in utter defeat and continued walking. Mal let everyone pass him by as they made their way into the vast cargo bay making sure to keep Aymee in sight.

"Kaylee, you and Zoe help Jayne to the infirmary." Mal ordered as Simon and Kaylee appeared on the upper gangway above them, their faces full of relief and concern. Mal addressed Simon.

"Doc, you got customers. See to 'em. And you, little albatross-"

"Way ahead of you," River called back over her shoulder as she took the metal stairs two at a time. "I'll signal Inara and let her know we'll be coming to pick her up ahead of schedule."

"We got work to do, people, let's get to it." Mal barked.

The crew dispersed from the top of the stairway. All except for Aymee who was stopped short by the captain's grip on the back of her shirt collar. Without a word, Mal swung the girl in front of him almost flinging her off her feet and shoved her back towards the darkened end of the walkway where the second shuttle sat silent and empty. He slapped the door release; the other hand still clutching the girl's collar, and propelled Aymee into the empty shuttle then turned and hit the button to close the door behind the two of them.

"This has to be the all-time worst most hare-brained stunt you have ever pulled!" Mal exploded in aggravation. He advanced on the teen, his eyes hard and cold. "You and River could have been _killed_…we could'a lost people tonight. And for _what_?" he finished in a harsh growl.

Aymee looked up at him weakly. "We was only…I didn't think-"

He angrily cut her off pointing at her. "That's exactly right, Aymee - you didn't _think_! Not about the danger you dragged River into…not about what you put the rest of us through…not about anything but what you wanted!"

Aymee just stared at the floor resigned while Mal continued his tone icy. "You conjure I give orders just so I can hear myself talk?"

"No," Aymee huffily replied, then quickly added as an afterthought, "-sir. No, sir."

Mal eyed her a moment, his look one of deep fury and wordless exasperation. He seemed to have come to a decision as he then began to unbutton his cuffs and roll up the sleeves of his maroon work shirt. Aymee watched him, obviously confused but the captain didn't seem to want to offer an explanation.

"Uh, what're you –"

"Bizui _(shut up)_!" Mal snapped and Aymee instantly fell silent.

Sleeves sufficiently rolled up to suit him, Mal now bent down to untie the leather cords of his holster from around his thigh. The holster ties freed, Mal reached up and began to unbuckle his gun belt, his eyes never leaving the girl in front of him. The buckle undone, he pulled the gun belt from around his waist, grabbed the holster and threaded it out of the wide leather belt. He threw the holster and gun onto the passenger bench behind him. Aymee watched him afraid to say anything after his last outburst. She just stood uneasily in front of him waiting until Mal doubled the belt in his right hand and slapped it once against his other hand. He watched with grim satisfaction as sudden realization flitted across her face.

"Oh, go se _(shit),_" Aymee uttered in a small voice, her eyes widening in fear. She instinctively backed away from the armed man.

"Come here." The captain intoned darkly.

Aymee froze, swallowing hard her eyes going to the heavy gun belt Mal clenched in his right hand.

"I ain't askin' you again," Mal warned.

"But-"

"Aiya tian a! _(merciless hell)_" Mal angrily swore. That was the last straw for him. He strode over to Aymee, snagged her left arm and dragged her none too gently over to one of the trunks containing extra supplies for the shuttle. Sitting on the edge of the trunk, Mal hauled Aymee over his knee as she squawked in protest.

"Capt'n, I swear I won't never –"

"Oh, I _know_ you won't never after I get done with you, nyen ching-duh _(young one)_," he intoned darkly. "I'm gonna make gorramn sure you won't be sitting comfortable any time soon! Make you think twice before you **ever** do something this feng dian_(insane)_ again!"

Aymee tried unsuccessfully to push herself up from Mal's lap, but he had a firm hold on her. She cursed under her breath struggling harder not at all wanting what was coming.

"You want this on the bare?" he threatened her, "You keep this up, and the britches are coming down!"

Aymee immediately stopped resisting and lay still, but continued to plead her case. The pleading was abruptly cut off as Mal swung the belt down hard connecting solidly with Aymee's upturned backside. Aymee hissed in pain at the sudden stripe of fire searing across her butt. She gasped as the belt cracked down once more in almost the same spot, her normal resolve withering away rather quickly.

Aymee tried to catch her breath before the next lick landed but didn't make it in time and could only gasp again as the belt landed on its target a third time. Aymee was mortified. While Mal had found reasons to spank her in the past, he'd only used a belt on her once before and that had not been a pleasant experience.

Over and over the thick leather belt spanked the teen's bottom, turning it a dark pink underneath her thin military style pants. Her aching backside stung beyond belief, and Aymee began to bawl in earnest. Mal ignored her sobs as he continued to wallop Aymee with his gun belt, making sure to cover her entire bottom with the searing whacks. He wanted to make sure she wouldn't forget this lesson anytime soon because he wanted to make sure he didn't have to do this ever again.

Mal held her tight to him to keep her from squirming and carried on the whipping until he felt her go limp, blubbering piteously, resigned to the situation. He laid down a few more stripes and then lowered his belt and pulled the girl from over his lap. She stood there stiffly, huge tears streaking her dirty face, her hands disappearing behind her to rub her hot throbbing backside.

"Work we do puts us in some tough spots at times, and I can't have folk what I can't trust to follow orders that may save their lives," Mal sternly lectured. "I am responsible for each and every person on this boat, including you, Aymee. And I ain't about to have you runnin' off gettin' yourself killed without my permission!"

"Yes, sir," Aymee sniffled grimacing at the pain singing across her rear.

Mal stood up, picked up his gunbelt and went over to retrieve his holstered gun from the nearby bench. He turned back to gaze at Aymee who kept her eyes on the floor directly in front of her looking like the saddest sorriest little 'un he'd ever set eyes on.

"Get along to your bunk." Mal quietly ordered as he hit the controls to open the shuttle door, suddenly feeling very old and very tired. "We'll talk more later."

Aymee scooted past the man and fairly flew down the walkway toward the upper level and her quarters, snuffling as she went. Mal looked down at the belt in his hand and squeezed it hard. He sighed heavily as he began to thread the holster back onto it. This was the part of captaining he hated most.

INARA'S SHUTTLE 30 MINUTES LATER...

Inara was not at all surprised when Mal showed up at her shuttle door. What did take her back was that he actually knocked and asked permission to enter first.

"Will wonders never cease, you actually..." her voice trailed off at the look on Mal's face. "Mal?" Inara questioned. "What is it?"

Mal slowly took a seat on the luxurious silk-cushioned couch across from where Inara stood looking at him. He still had his gunbelt clenched in his hand. He looked down at it for a moment and then with a tired sigh, tossed it onto the little table in front of him.

"Mal?" Inara asked again, concern in her voice, "Is everything all right? River said we had to leave in a hurry, but she didn't give any details..." She paled, "No one got hurt, did they? Is Kaylee okay?"

"Everyone's fine," he finally replied, his voice unnaturally flat as he finally glanced up at the woman. "Jayne's gonna be limping for a bit and Zoe's got a new scar, but they'll be all right."

Inara relaxed somewhat to hear that none of the people she now considered "family" had died. Mal though didn't look any more relieved. He stared at the belt on the table.

"Something else happened, didn't it?" Inara carefully asked. She came around the table to sit next to Mal and placed a hand on his.

"I don't know nothing 'bout raising a young'un," Mal started, "Never 'magined I'd ever have any of my own...hell, what woman in her right mind would..." he stopped and looked away from Inara in embarrassment.

She removed her hand feeling the awkwardness. Mal continued. "I just whupped the hell out of Aymee with my belt." He said quietly. "And I feel like a de liu mang _(son of a bitch)_ for doing it."

"Oh, Mal," Inara reached over again to take his hand and give it a squeeze. "What happened?"

Mal explained about Aymee and River sneaking off to the carnival against orders and River's subsequent disappearance leading up to the gun battle and injuries. He finished with Aymee getting walloped over his knee for her disobedience. "I know I did the right thing, Inara, but I can't help feeling like the bad guy here."

"You're not the bad guy, Mal and I'm sure Aymee doesn't think you are either." Inara said.

Mal shot her a look. "Were you not listening? I took _that_ belt there and -"

Inara didn't let him finish. "Children stretch their limits from time to time, and they need to know when they've gone too far. Aymee went way over the limit this time, and you punished her for it."

"I licked her pretty hard." Mal countered.

"The severity fit the crime." Inara replied. "She and River could have been killed. You know...at the training academy...we were disciplined with spankings when we got out of line." Mal's brows raised in curiosity, and Inara elaborated. "I remember getting a pretty good switching from the House mother once for sneaking out after hours to see a play in town." Inara blushed laughing at the memory. "Needless to say, I didn't leave the training house without permission after that."

Mal smiled back and then sighed. "It don't get easier, does it?"

ONE HOUR LATER – SOMEWHERE OUT IN THE BLACK**...**

Aymee lay on top of her bunk, face to the wall, apparently asleep when Mal came into her quarters to have their talk. His eyes traveled aimlessly around the walls of the small room taking in the garish teenage décor around him and he smiled to himself. He had thought Kaylee's taste in decorating was pretty bad, but this was a nightmare compared to her.

The walls had been covered with a mix of cheap Asian tapestries none of which carried a similar color to any of its relatives. Among and sometimes pinned to these wall hangings were pictures torn from newspapers featuring an odd assortment of grinning studly men from various professional sports teams and images of puppies and kittens with cutsie sayings in Chinese script underneath them. The room was lit at either end by two paper lanterns that had seen better days and a string of multi-colored plastic Christmas lights nailed across the top of her bunk. The Christmas lights must have been Kaylee's idea he supposed.

Across from the bed on the opposite wall, the young girl's little dresser held a few candles and a ceramic incense burner donated, he was quite sure, by Inara. They looked slightly out of place among the litter of teenage girlie items scattered around. Well, girlie items except for the large bowie knife he noted with a pained expression. That had been given to her by Jayne. Strange gift he thought but Aymee had been so thrilled by it that she wore it constantly to the point that Mal had had to finally tell her to leave it in her room unless they were planning to go planet-side. It didn't sit right with him to have a child roaming around his boat armed with a pig sticker that was almost as long as her own forearm.

He ambled over to the girl, trying to step over the piles of clothes and some ratty stuffed animals strewn over the floor, but tripping over some old books that had been piled next to the bed. He looked down at her still form lying on top of the faded blue brocade coverlet that had once been his ma's and sighed. He was not sure whether he should wake her or let her sleep and come back later.

"I ain't asleep," Aymee mumbled to the wall.

Mal settled himself on the edge of her bed gazing a moment with almost fatherly affection at the back of her honey blond locks, which lay for once unbound and splayed over her pillow. He was amazed at how even the poor light of the lanterns made certain strands of her hair shine as if it were spun gold.

"You plannin' on stayin' to the wall, or can we talk like civilized folk?" he gently teased her.

She twisted around, careful to lift her very tender bottom off the bed as she did so, and slowly sat up grimacing slightly. Mal winced inwardly at that, feeling a tad bit guilty for being the one to have caused her the discomfort. He reached up to scratch the back of his head, not sure where to start. At the beginning, he figured.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said to her.

Aymee's brows shot up in surprise at this admittance and Mal quickly corrected himself.

"Not for whuppin' you, mei-mei _(little sister)_. You got exactly what you deserved and you know it. I'm just sorry I was so mean about it when I did it."

"Well...I guess I'm sorry too." she muttered looking down at the bed cover uncomfortably.

It was Mal's turn to look surprised now. Aymee caught the look and rolled her eyes. She glanced up into the captain's face with a rueful smile reaching behind her to rub at her still tender rear end.

"I'm not sayin' I liked gettin' my backside lashed, 'cause that hurt like a duh liou mahng _(son of a bitch), _but I guess I'm not saying I didn't have it coming neither." She looked back down, frowning, as tears formed in her big blue eyes. "You still mad at me?"

Mal thought about it a moment before answering. "Well, I s'pose I oughtta be, but I can't say as I am. I figure you paid square for disobeyin' my orders, and I'm fairly convinced you and me are on the same page now."

He brushed a stray lock of hair from her eyes and continued. "You caused a heap of trouble for all of us today. Jayne's all shot up not to mention Zoe's wounded, n' Simon's gone all feng le _(loopy in the head)_ worrying about his sister which has got Kaylee in a quite a knot and River...well, she's been all manner of traumatized by this whole situation. You made a yu ben de _(stupid) _decision, Aymee, and it wasn't just you what paid the consequences for your mischief this time, dong ma _(understand)_?"

He looked down when he heard soft sobbing, his captainly resolve quickly fading. Reaching over, Mal gathered the remorseful child into his arms and pulled her close, holding her against his chest letting her cry it out.

"I'm sorry," she hiccupped against his shirt as the tears fell. "I wasn't tryin' to be bad, honest. I just...just wanted to take River to the carnival is all. 'Cause, cause she's never been to one..." Aymee sobbed. "I didn't think it was gonna be trouble. I mean, I didn't realize...even though you told me..."

"Hush now," Mal softly ordered. "Stop the tears. It's done and over with."

"But Jayne n' the others," she insisted looking up at her captain with trepidation, "They all hate me!" She erupted into fresh tears, and Mal pulled her back against his chest rubbing her back soothingly as he tried to calm her fears.

"They don't hate you, xiaou mei-mei. They might be a bit tetchy with ya for a while maybe, but they don't hate you. There ain't a one of us in the bunch that ain't done some foolish thing or another at some point that ended up gettin' us all in hot water. Well, 'cept for me, of course."

He relaxed when he heard a small chuckle escape from the teen. He pulled her chin up to look in her face. "You understand now why it's important to follow orders when I give 'em?" he asked her.

She nodded wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"You understand why I gave you such a harsh licking this time?"

She nodded again, a bit more reluctantly than before.

"You plannin' on being all wan-pi _(naughty)_ and disobeying me anymore?"

"No, sir."

He reached up to tousle her blonde head and grinned down at her. "Glad to hear that, 'cause I don't want to have to be takin' my belt off for that reason again!" He stood up to leave but paused at the ladder surveying her room one last time. "Aymee?"

"Yeah?"

"Any particular reason your bunk looks this scary other than a general lack of cleanliness on your part?"

"No."

"Clean it up."

"But-"

He gave her a pointed look as if to wonder whether or not she'd just paid attention to the conversation they'd been having the past few minutes.

She blushed and nodded sheepishly. "Got it, Cap'n. Clean it up."

"Now. Would be good." He quipped and opened the hatch to her quarters and began to climb the ladder out.

"Ke wu de lao bao jun _(horrible old tyrant)_," Aymee sniped under her breath.

Mal poked his head back into the room. "You say something?"

"No, sir."

"Didn't think so." He affirmed giving her a knowing look. "I'll have Kaylee bring you down some grub." He gave a nod to her messy room. "Now."

AYMEE'S BUNK A LITTLE WHILE LATER...

"I brought ya some supper," Kaylee offered Aymee and held up the tray.

"Thanks, Kaylee. But, I ain't real hungry."

Aymee lay on her stomach on top of her bunk. It was the only position she could manage without causing any small amount of pain to her sore bruised butt. That's one for the captain, she thought wryly.

"Sure you don't want just a little bite?" Kaylee coaxed. "It ain't half bad – Inara found some dehydrated vegetable powder hiding in the pantry and added it in. Makes it taste like it's got real carrots and peas in it."

Aymee shook her head and winced as she slowly rolled over and swung her legs off the edge of the bed. "Maybe later." She said then grimaced as she moved about trying to find a position that didn't cause her hot bottom to throb.

Kaylee's eyes narrowed as she studied Aymee. "Aymee, you okay?"

"Sure, I'm just dandy." Aymee quietly joked.

"You don't seem okay...why you squirming so much?"

"Don't you have engine stuff to fix?" Aymee tiredly asked. She gave up trying to find a comfortable position to sit up in and lay back down on her belly.

Kaylee set the tray down on Aymee's dresser and walked over to the girl. Before Aymee could do anything, Kaylee reached down and laid a palm on the other girl's small backside. Aymee hissed in pain and Kaylee drew her hand away quickly.

"Tsai boo shr _(no way)_!" Kaylee gasped as she watched Aymee's face redden. "You got a whuppin! The capt'n actually whupped you, didn't he!"

"You notice I ain't laughin' here." Aymee replied testily.

"Oh, Aymee, I'm sorry." Kaylee quickly apologized. "I didn't mean it like that...hurt much?"

Kaylee reached down to grab the top of Aymee's sweatpants. Aymee batted at her friend's hand in annoyance.

"Kaylee! What the hell you doing?!"

"I just wanna see how bad it is."

"Kaylee!" Aymee groaned in embarrassment. She shot her friend an exasperated look while keeping a tight grip on the waistband of her pants.

Kaylee rolled her eyes and made to reach for Aymee's waistband again. "Oh, come on. Ain't like I haven't seen a backside afore. Just hold still."

Aymee reluctantly acquiesced and Kaylee carefully peeled the young teen's pants back to reveal a pair of still glowing cheeks. The older girl grimaced in sympathy. "Oh, sweetie, you won't be sittin' anytime soon."

"Yeah, I kinda got that impression already." Aymee's voice dripped with sarcasm as she carefully tugged her sweat pants back up over her sore bottom.

Kaylee perched herself on the side of Aymee's bed and offered the girl a conciliatory pat on the head. "It ain't that bad, Aymee. I've gotten plenty a whuppin's."

Aymee raised a skeptical eyebrow at her shipmate.

"Oh, well, not from the capt'n of course," Kaylee amended, "But my daddy's had cause to tan me a time or two. And pride hurts more'n your backside, I think."

"Well, it ain't my pride that's raw sore at the moment, Kaylee..."

Kaylee smiled at her friend's comment. "I guess not, huh? Well, I know a cold cloth full of ice used to take the sting out for me. Want me to go get ya one?"

She began to get up from Aymee's bunk, but Aymee reached over to grab hold of the young mechanic's wrist to stop her.

"Thanks for the offer, Kaylee, but I'm fine." Aymee said. She glanced above her as if the ceiling to her bunk was transparent and she could see the rest of the crew as they went about their duties. Aymee made a face. "The last thing I want is for everyone on this gorramn ship to be asking why you're bringing me a towel full of ice. Let's just leave it as is. I'll survive."

"Maybe Simon could-"

Aymee's eyes widened in horror. "Kaylee, no! I don't want the doc down here looking at me bare and all! Aiya! How embarrassing!"

Kaylee nodded and held up her hands in defeat. "All right. But, if you need anything or just want some company, let me know."

"I will. Thanks." Aymee mumbled.

Kaylee stood up and made her way to the ladder to leave. Aymee half sat up before the other girl had got a foot on the first rung, a shadow of apprehension falling over her face.

"Kaylee?"

"Hm?"

"Don't tell no one, okay?" Aymee asked quietly.

"Oh, sure, Aymee, I won't tell."

Aymee lay back down, watching as Kaylee climbed up the ladder and exited her bunk. She sighed, wondering how long it would be before everyone knew she'd been taken to the woodshed by the captain.

"I give her an hour." Aymee said to herself, then chuffed, "hell, ten minutes if the doc looks at her pretty." She shook her head, a wry smile playing over her lips as she reached back to rub at her sore bottom.


	4. Standoff

### STANDOFF ###

Malcolm Reynold's caught the glint of sun off gun metal and instantly swept his hand down over his holster, eyes widening in surprise at finding it empty and then narrowing in anger at the sudden realization that the weapon his young pilot was brandishing at their business partner was none other than his own beloved revolver.

"_**AYMEE**_." It was one word, yet Mal's tone carried a thousand inferences in it as he fixed the fourteen-year-old girl with a malevolent glare. "Give. Me. My. Gun." He bit off each syllable, his jaw clenching so hard that his teeth ground together.

Aymee's eyes flicked nervously over to the captain and then quickly back to the terrified man now cowering in front of her. She gave Badger a particularly nasty smile and steadied Mal's old army pistol in both hands, squinting as she aimed for the thief's forehead directly above his bulging frightened eyes. Badger paled and raised his hands even higher as if that would somehow appease Aymee and keep her from pulling the trigger. Aymee noticed from the corner of her eye that Mal was still impatiently waiting for her to comply with his demand for the return of his revolver. Not really an option at this juncture she reflected, but she did owe the captain an explanation at the very least.

"He don't deserve to live!" Aymee sharply stated never taking her eyes off Badger.

"Don't matter what he deserves," Mal cautioned. "Right now, we need him. **Alive**."

Slivers of dread began to mix with his anger which was already at a hot simmer. Why couldn't things ever go smoothly, he wondered as he shot Aymee another warning look. "Now give me my gorramn gun or-"

"It ain't right..." Aymee muttered darkly as she cocked the big revolver in her hands.

Badger flinched visibly at the noise, sweat now dripping from under his faded brown bowler hat.

"He ain't even armed!" Mal pointed out in frustration, and Badger wiggled his empty hands as proof.

Aymee's smile turned cold. "Don't matter none to me."

Aymee stood, frozen in place, anger boiling at the thought of letting the weasel of a man in front of her go unpunished. It was **his** fault they'd walked right into that mess in town! **His** fault that Kaylee was now lying in the infirmary! It just wasn't right, no matter what the captain thought. She shook her head and once again drew a bead on the man cringing before her.

Not one for remaining passive in potentially volatile situations, Mal turned slightly and caught his first mate, Zoe's, attention with his gaze, held it for a moment, flipped his eyes over to Aymee and then back to Zoe. Zoe had been a permanent fixture at Mal's side ever since the big war for independence over a decade ago. They'd been through hell and back together and so, it wasn't any wonder that the graceful warrior woman knew exactly what Mal was asking of her even though no words had been spoken. Zoe gave an imperceptible nod towards Mal and slowly backed herself away from the captain's side while keeping a practiced eye on the events unfolding in front of everyone.

What little patience Mal might have been harboring had vanished. His voice was hard and sharp. "Put up that weapon, Aymee! That **ain't** a request!"

"How 'bout I just wing him?" the girl insolently offered back.

"How 'bout I thrash you raw in front of all these pretty people?" Mal furiously countered.

Aymee's full attention snapped over to her captain, her look one of shocked disbelief.

"You think I'm bluffing?" Mal's dark look showed that he wasn't.

Aymee swallowed, hard. Mal took a warning step in her direction. The girl's resolve wavered, and the hand holding the cocked pistol dropped slightly. It was enough for Zoe, who had been quietly edging up behind the girl waiting for a break. Zoe reached up and tapped Aymee on the shoulder once to draw her attention. Aymee jumped slightly and snapped her head to the left in stunned surprise, her gun hand falling completely away from its original target whereupon Zoe reacted instantly by snatching the gun from Aymee. The girl stared stupidly at her empty hand for a moment before giving the older woman a sheepish look of defeat. Everyone visibly relaxed a bit as the tension of the situation eased.

Mal, though, wasn't satisfied. He strode purposely over to Aymee, a cold rage masking his features and grabbed a handful of the back of her dress spinning the teen roughly around toward the ramp up to the cargo bay of the ship. Without so much as a word, Mal smacked Aymee's rear once hard, the loud report breaking the quiet. Aymee yelped in surprise, hands flying to her stinging backside as she quickly scrambled up the ramp mortified. Jayne grinned as he watched the girl disappear into the ship.

"Nice to see discipline isn't totally lost on your crew," Badger remarked dryly, his cockney-like accent thicker than usual.

"Bizui!_ (shut up)_" Mal barked at Badger as he turned back to the group still standing outside the ship, his anger still at the forefront of his emotions.

"Just trying to lighten the mood is all," Badger claimed as he straightened his collar and adjusted his hat. "You're lucky I'm a forgiving man, Mal."

Mal glared at Badger then turned to take his revolver from Zoe who remained silent. He examined it a moment before holstering it and waited patiently for Badger to make his next move.

"Well now, seems to me that a bit of reparation is due," Badger stated smoothly, an oily smile curling his lips. "I think my cut on this job is going to be forty percent instead of the usual twenty-five."

"Forty!" Jayne growled as he reached for his own weapon, "Jien tah-duh guay _(like hell)_ forty!"

Mal held up his hand at Jayne to quiet the merc while keeping his hard stare on Badger.

"Forty's a might steep, dontcha think, Badger?" Mal softly questioned.

"No, I _**don't**_ think." Badger snapped his pug face mottled in anger. "Forty sounds about right for almost being murdered by that feng dian pang yi_ (insane child born of a concubine)_! You want any more jobs or not, Reynolds? 'Cause I have plenty of other contacts that would jump at the chances I give them, and _they_ wouldn't try to shoot the hand what feeds them."

Mal gritted his teeth in irritation, feeling the blood pounding in his temples. He hated being put over a barrel by the smug criminal, but had no choice. Serenity was in need of repairs, his crew needed to be paid and no one else seemed willing to hire them lately. It was this or nothing, Mal concluded, and nothing didn't put food in their mouths.

"Forty it is," Mal managed a tight smile as he answered Badger. He motioned for Zoe to hand him the duffel containing their portion of the pay off and slowly counted out a bit more. With great reluctance, Mal handed the extra cash over to Badger, his mouth a grim line of seething hatred. "See you around," he coldly said.

Badger gave a curt nod then turned and left the crew to their business. Mal closed his eyes a moment trying to compose himself while Jayne, now bored that the excitement was over, wandered up the ramp and into the ship. Mal finally followed, Zoe at his side.

"Quite a show back there," Zoe casually remarked to Mal as they climbed the ramp up to the cargo bay area of the ship. "Sir, you wouldn't really have-"

"Zoe, you know I ain't one for grandstanding," Mal brusquely cut her off. He wasn't really in the mood to discuss what had just happened but Zoe pressed him.

"I also know you're not one for false threats either, sir," Zoe commented referring to his warning toward Aymee.

"Wasn't a false threat." Mal growled as he hit the button at the top of the ramp to raise it and shut the huge blast doors in preparation for take off. "You hadn't grabbed my gun from Aymee just now, I'd have blistered her backside right then and there. Guess she owes you a big thank you for that." Mal's eyes took on a hard edge as he shot Zoe a look. "Not that I ain't gonna have a private _chat_ with her later," he added ominously.

"She is a handful, sir."

"That's a fact," Mal dryly replied then grew serious as the two continued to make their way through the cargo bay toward the metal stairs to the upper level of the ship. "Aymee's always earned her keep on this boat for the most part, but I let her get away with more'n I should have, Zoe. And for that, we paid dear today."

Zoe shrugged as they began to climb the stairs. "No worse than River or Jayne have cost us before."

"River can't be helped," Mal argued with a wave of his hand as he climbed. "She ain't all tight in her gears and you know it. Hell, half the time, that moonbrain don't even know what she's doing or saying, so you can't really blame her for the mishaps she gets into. As for Jayne," he continued a sarcastic note to his voice, "That's easy – he misbehaves? I knock him upside the head with a lug wrench." Mal stopped and turned on the stairway to face Zoe. "But just what exactly am I supposed to do with a smart-mouth child who's got too big for her britches?"

Zoe had no answer to that. Mal turned back and began to climb the steps again. "No sense putting it off," he sighed.

Zoe put a hand on his arm stopping him. "Sir, I think she already got the point."

"What're you saying, Zo? You think that tao shen _(naughty child)_ don't deserve a good licking?" Mal asked.

"Not saying that at all, sir. But, I think you both need some time to cool off. Maybe get a little perspective on things before you go doing something you might regret."

Mal gave an evil chuckle. "Regret? Hell, it'll be my pleasure to-"

"You know what I mean, sir," Zoe interrupted. "Aymee looks up to you."

"Really?" Mal retorted as he reached the landing to the second deck feeling the engine of his ship rumble to life. "Well, I'm finding that a mite hard to see as how she just about killed someone I told her not to!"

"She was watching out for one of her own," Zoe gently chided. "You or I wouldn't have done any different."

"There's a big difference," Mal wearily explained, "Being that yes, I'd a shot the wang ba dan _(dirty son of a bitch)_ myself if I thought Kaylee wasn't gonna pull through. But, I gave Aymee a direct order to stand down and she **didn't**. Now, that only cost us a chunk of the earnings and some hurt feelings this time, but what happens next time?" Mal turned to meet Zoe's eyes, a cold and serious look on his face. "You willing to watch her take a bullet for her heroics? Or take one yourself?"

Mal sighed heavily. "Zoe, I say I'm going to do something and I do it. My word is all I have. And my word is what keeps this ship flying and the folks on it alive and breathing. You know that better than anyone."

"Yes, sir, I do, but Aymee is just a kid."

"You let me worry on that. Right now, I need to get this boat in the air. We're already behind schedule." Having reached the aft hallway between the engine room and the galley, Mal started off toward the cockpit of his ship, speaking over his shoulder to Zoe. "Got coin to make."

Mal strode into the galley of Serenity as the ship began its familiar rumble and shake of taking off. Jayne was lounging at the kitchen table casually scanning through a well-worn weapons catalog as Mal passed by him. The merc noticed Mal's dark scowl and smiled. For once, it wasn't him on the receiving end of the captain's temper.

"Wallop her good, Mal," Jayne urged. "That brat's been asking for it ever since she came on board. Costin' us forty percent!" He huffed in disgust.

Mal tried to ignore Jayne's misplaced enthusiasm as he headed for the hatch door leading to the foredeck hallway and the bridge.

Jayne called after him. "Hey, ya wanna borrow my belt?" The merc stood up and began to unbuckle the aforementioned item. "It's good n' heavy – make the right _impression_, if ya know what I mean."

Mal stopped and sighed loudly. He shot the bigger man a withering look. "Jayne...go play with your guns."

Mal continued on to Serenity's bridge where Aymee sat in the old weathered pilot's seat carefully guiding the transport ship up and out of the familiar blue-gray atmosphere of Persephone. Her emotions were a muddled soup of anger and humiliation. After the episode outside, she'd gone to check on Kaylee in the infirmary before coming here to begin the usual pre-flight warm up. The young mechanic was now conscious but a bit out of it. Simon had assured Aymee several times that Kaylee would recover fully. It hadn't made Aymee feel any less angry or worried for her friend though. Aymee glanced up only briefly when Mal stalked into the cockpit and fixed her with a menacing glare.

"You wanna tell me what in the sphincter of hell you thought you were playin' at back there?" Mal demanded. Assuming the question to be rhetorical, Aymee didn't answer so Mal continued, his tone demonstrating his growing irritation with the girl. "I thought I'd made it abundantly clear about thievin' other folk's stuff on board, Aymee – you _don't_! And you 'specially **DON'T** when the item is **MINE** and is still in my holster and hanging at my side!"

Aymee bit her tongue and continued to concentrate on the instrument panel and breaking orbit from the planet. Mal stood for a moment while Persephone fell safely away from their view, then reached over and whirled Aymee's chair around so hard, she was almost flung from it. Mal leaned down, his face close to hers, his eyes pinning her to the back of the chair.

His voice had a dangerous edge to it that made Aymee cringe. "The next time I tell you to put up a weapon, you'd best have it holstered before I even finish my sentence! Dong le ma? _(are we clear here?)_"

"You ain't always right, you know," she stubbornly retorted.

Mal gave a harsh laugh. "Who said anything about right?" he countered and straightened back up, leveling an imposing look at the girl. "This ain't a democracy, Aymee. I'm the captain, and you do as I say or you can take your merry leave at the next piece of rock we stop off at."

Aymee looked up at the captain, a worried frown crinkling her brow. "I don't wanna leave," she pouted.

"Well, I'd rather you didn't either seein' as how I'd be breakin' my promise to your father," Mal confessed in irritation, then pointed at her. "But, I'm done wrestling with you, nian qing de _(child)_. Now, I know you ain't had the best of lifes and all, but I conjure somewhere down the line, I should have already taught you the dangers of poking a stick into a hornet's nest!"

Aymee gave him an indignant look that Mal promptly dismissed. He continued, his voice taking on the tenor of someone who was used to explaining the obvious. "Seems to me you're a might more unfettered than most seventeen-year-olds, and there's no doubt some on my crew have spoilt you-"

"Spoilt me?!" Aymee choked, her cheeks flushing in anger.

Mal ignored her. "Feeling sorry for you and all, but I'm here to tell you that ain't happening anymore on my ship. You're part of my crew and you best get to learnin' that I give an order, it's to be followed without question!"

Aymee's mouth hung open in annoyed wonder. She glared at Mal, her temper rising. "And what if one of your orders costs one of us our lives?" Aymee snapped. "What then?"

"What d'you think Badger's men would've done to us if I'da let you shoot him back there?" Mal angrily countered.

Aymee blinked digesting his words. "I didn't think about that," she slowly answered.

"Because you were too busy concentrating on your own version of revenge," Mal said. "Which is why I'm the one giving the orders around here. You think I'd have let it go so easily if I thought for one minute Kaylee's life was in the balance?"

Mal's words nettled her so badly Aymee couldn't think straight. She shook her head feeling rather foolish all of a sudden. It was true that she hadn't thought about the possible consequences of her earlier actions. She'd let her anger over the situation take the front seat instead of listening to common sense and Mal's orders.

"Fine," she quietly conceded and then flashed a look of injured contempt at Mal who stood with his arms crossed over his work shirt. "But, you didn't have to hit me in front of everyone," she sullenly admonished.

Mal blinked in surprise, uncrossing his arms. "_Hit_ you? You think I..." He chuckled in disbelief at her attempted umbrage and then became serious. "I don't go hitting women-folk as a rule," Mal stopped thinking back to Patience and Saffron and made a face. "Well, less they hit me first leastways, but let's not confuse the issue here." He waved off the notion and fixed a weighty look on his young pilot. "If I'd a **hit** you, you'd still be out napping on the floor with a busted jaw. You got a well earned swat to the britches and nothing more. And you can consider that a warm up to the dance that's coming."

Aymee's head snapped up and she gave Mal a worried look. "Whaddyou mean?" she asked warily.

Mal's tone was no-nonsense. "You and me are gonna take a little walk to the woodshed, darlin'. I may not be an old pro at handing out lickings, but I think I'll manage fair enough you won't mistake my meaning."

She digested this a moment not at all happy with the way events were turning. Aymee gave Mal a weak smile. "Don't s'pose I can get out of this one?" She wheedled.

Mal plastered a false smile on his face as he addressed her. "Never let it be said I ain't a generous man, Aymee. I'll give you a choice. We can have this little woodshed chat right here and now...or you can get yourself to your bunk within the next, oh, two seconds and do your hollering in private."

"That ain't fair!" Aymee cried.

Mal sighed. "Guess we're doing this here, then." He made to grab for the girl, but Aymee bolted out of her seat ducking under his arm.

"Bunk's good!" She blurted as she quickly headed out the hatch and down the steps toward the crew's quarters.

Aymee heard the captain coming down the ladder of her bunk directly behind her. As soon as her feet hit the floor, the girl made for the opposite side of her small room to put distance between herself and Mal. Mal scowled at Aymee, not amused by her half-hearted escape attempt. He crooked a finger at Aymee motioning for her to come back over to him. Aymee crossed her arms and scowled back stubbornly refusing to close the distance. Mal's irritation grew and he shot her a cautioning glare.

"We gonna have to do this the hard way?" he warned her.

"You thinkin' I oughtta be helpsome?" Aymee sarcastically asked.

"I'm thinking," Mal slowly replied, a dark glint in his eyes, "That you oughtta be a little more cooperative, less you're wantin' worse than what's already coming."

Aymee actually snickered at this. "How you plannin' on making it worse exactly? I'm already gettin' a licking!"

Mal's look at that moment could have frozen an ocean. He spotted a wooden hairbrush Inara had given Aymee lying on the nearby dresser and reached over to pick it up. He studied it a moment and smiled grimly at Aymee who was still glowering at him her lower lip insolently jutting out.

"This'll do," he said to himself.

Without further notice, Mal crossed the small space of Aymee's room in three long strides and took hold of the teen's upper arm dragging her unwillingly back across the room. He took a seat on the edge of her unmade bunk and yanked Aymee down across his lap, her feet flying up and her face meeting the softness of the bedspread.

Mal calmly addressed the girl's upturned backside. "Was planning on giving you just a few with my hand, but since you're feeling a mite feisty and contestable, we'll make this a bit of a learning lesson for you, Aymee."

"Learnin' less-" Aymee stopped and swore softly as she realized Mal still had hold of the hairbrush. "Hey! Wait a minute!" she gulped and tried to push herself off his lap.

Mal clamped an arm around her waist stopping Aymee's hasty escape. Ignoring the teen's pleas for leniency, he flipped up the hem of her skirt with his free hand to uncover her panty-clad bottom.

"What're you – hey!" she hollered upon feeling the cool air of the room on her near bare backside. "Zao gao _(damn it)_! You wouldn't! Capt'n!"

Even though she knew it was hopeless, Aymee frantically tried to kick off Mal's lap with no success. Mal just ignored her little tirade and raised the hairbrush high then let it come down hard against Aymee's unprotected bottom, the crack sounding like a pistol shot in the small room. Aymee gasped in shock as she felt the burning sting spread its warmth across her right butt cheek. She stopped struggling for a moment until Mal followed his first swat with a volley of scalding spanks up and down her entire backside.

"I don't have time to play games with you, Aymee." Mal angrily stated as he spanked her with the hairbrush. "So it's ending right here and now."

Aymee was determined to remain silent throughout her punishment refusing to give her captain the satisfaction of knowing he was gaining any in this latest battle of wills. Seeing that his efforts were being countermanded, Mal increased the strength of the spanks, concentrating on her sit spot.

"OWWW!" Aymee finally howled, her eyes watering from the burning steady ache now blooming across her rear end. "Okay! Okay! OW! I'm – Agghh - SORRY!"

"Yao shagua _(stubborn idiot)_." Mal rolled his eyes. "Don't have the brains of a gnat!"

He kept up a steady quick rhythm of forceful swats with the hairbrush, the blows rocking the girl across his lap as she squirmed and hollered. Aymee mentally kicked herself for wearing a skirt instead of pants which at least might have absorbed some of the painful sting. No amount of pleading, crying or kicking did any good though. Aymee shrieked holy murder as her bottom reddened from Mal's punishing spanks. She realized too late that Mal wasn't going to let her up until she'd paid dearly for her stubborn defiance.

Whack!_ OW! _Whack! _OW! _Whack!_ OW!_

"You gonna touch my gun ever again?" Mal questioned as he continued to spank her.

"NO!" Aymee bawled, her voice now hoarse.

"There best be a _sir_ at the end of that sentence, nyen ching de _(young one)_!"

Whack! Whack! Whack!

_"EEEEIIIIIYYOWWW! Sir_!_ I meant no, SIR_!"

Whack!_ OW! _Whack!_ OW! Oww! Ow!_

"The next time you get a fool idea in your head, you come talk to me first, dong ma?"

Whack!

"Okay! I'll..._OW_...I will! Cap'n, please!"

Whack!_ OW! _Whack! _OW!_ Whack!_ OW!_

"We done with the misbehavin'?" Mal sternly questioned.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

"Yes! Done! _OOOOWWWWIIEE_!"

Whack! Whack! Whack!_ YAAAOOOOWWWW!_

"You and me got an understanding then?"

Whack! Whack! Whack!

"Aiyaaa! _YES_! I sssweeearrrr! _SIR_!"

WHACK!

Mal stopped when Aymee stopped struggling and finally went limp with compliance over his knees. He figured she'd gotten the message loud and clear. Mal dropped the hairbrush onto the bed next to him and helped Aymee stand back up. She groaned and reached up to swipe at her tear-filled eyes with the sleeve of her dress then reached back to rub her hot throbbing backside.

"Wo de mah_ (mother of god) - _that hurt!" she tearfully sniffed.

"I s'pose it did," Mal mildly observed. His face softened a little as he watched Aymee grimacing and rubbing. "You know I hate doing that, don't you?"

"Coulda fooled me!" she hissed in pain making a face at him.

Mal chuckled. "You can dislike a job, Aymee, n' still be good at doing it."

Aymee's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Yeah? Well, I conjure you didn't dislike it as much as you're saying!"

Mal raised a brow at her impudence. "You wanna go again?"

Aymee's eyes widened. "No sir."

"Didn't think so," Mal replied as he got up from the girl's bunk. "You know we could both avoid this bit of thorny unpleasantry in the future if you'd stop being so stubborn."

Aymee sheepishly nodded in agreement. "I reckon so."

Mal gave the girl an evil grin. "Well, I'll always be around to help remind you. And I guarantee you, little Aymee, my hand'll outlast your stubborness every time."

Aymee watched Mal leave, a sour grapes look on her face from his last comment. She sighed heavily as she gingerly made her way over to her bed glaring at the hairbrush that had so recently been applied to her tender glowing bottom. She snatched the offending implement from where it lay and moodily pitched it across the room.

"Zhao wo ma fan _(cause me trouble)_!" the teen spat after it. "You're goin' out the airlock first chance I get!"


End file.
